Rascor Engineering
AG/Ltd develops and produces systems, products and machines for waterproofing,
grouting technology and structure preservation and repair. Based in
Switzerland, this highly specialised group is represented by its own
branches and subsidiaries in a number of European, Asian and Arabian
countries. The company has a tremendous wealth of knowledge and expertise,
underpinned by a powerful, efficient global network capable of tackling
the most challenging and prestigious of international projects. René
P. Schmid, who founded Rascor in 1965, still heads the company.

System engineering for preventive
and remedial waterproofing

The concentration on system engineering and provision of integral
solutions is central to Rascor philosophy. For reasons of quality
assurance, Rascor systems are not freely available on the market,
but are sold directly to selected contractors, allowing close technical
supervision during planning and production.

Highly regarded
throughout the world, Rascor's experts assist the partners on site
or from head office in all aspects of diagnosis, design, planning,
production and quality assurance. The company can provide guarantees
for an integral package of services from the planning/design of the
waterproofing scheme to the completed waterproof structure. The client
and the designer enjoy all the benefits of single-point responsibility
with no headaches over the contentious issue of liability in case
of failures: they are entitled to a waterproof structure and Rascor
is responsible for providing it.

By the pooling
and exchange of knowledge and experience gathered from projects and
sources worldwide, and the maintenance of a central technical database,
Rascor has achieved a concentration of know-how as yet unrivalled
in the construction sector. This, coupled with intensive training
programmes held regularly for Rascor partners, ensures top quality
and state-of-the-art solutions to meet the most challenging of briefs.
The systems implemented by the group are almost exclusively based
on products developed, formulated and produced by Rascor alone, and
are protected by numerous patents.

RASCOflex grouts are based on environmentally friendly two-component
acrylic resins and are available in a wide variety of formulations.
Key features include their extremely low viscosity and surface tension
- they are able to permeate and completely fill pores, capillaries,
cracks, joints, voids and honeycombed areas, polymerising into an elastic,
neutral end product. Even soiled or oily substrates hardly impair performance.
RASCOflex is used for remedial work to all types of building and civil
engineering structure to combat water infiltration or leakages of water
and other liquids, or merely to consolidate rock and subsoil. The product
is also used for preventive or remedial waterproofing of road and rail
underpasses, troughed concrete structures for cuttings and cut-and-cover,
concrete pavements, retaining walls, bridges, avalanche protection structures,
viaducts and aqueducts, tunnels, headings, caverns, ground consolidation,
and mine shafts. RASCOflex may also be used for potable water applications.
The whole process of waterproofing is executed in a single operation
and is independent of the quantity or pressure of water encountered.

Specialist civil engineering
for waterproofing

RASCOtec patented injection channels, injection collars, expansion joint
units, crack-inducing and stop end units are used for the waterproofing
of construction and expansion joints.
RASCOtec systems are mainly used for waterproofing in general construction
and special civil engineering works. They prevent the infiltration of
water, whether or not under pressure, and are also used for structural
bonding and grouting for all types of joint in concrete, such as: shrinkage
joints; major structural joints; expansion joints; butt joints; junctions
between elastic and rigid membranes; horizontal and vertical construction
joints; joints between precast units; pipe and cable penetrations; pipe
connections; groundwater relief pipes; and piezometers.

An increasing number of designers have come to appreciate
the technical and economic merits of Rascor systems over the last
few years. Recent tunnelling projects include: over twenty new-build
sewage treatment works in Switzerland; extension of the freight facility
at Zurich-Kloten Airport; three tunnels on the N2 Basel-France motorway
link; over fifty underground railway stations in Germany and Austria;
sections of the Storebaelt tunnel in Denmark; various stations and
tunnels on London Underground; and underground car parks throughout
Europe.